Need to keep full Backup on hard drive?

If I'm using Time Machine, do I need to keep a Backup.sparse image (98.07 GB) from 2 years ago on my hard drive? Do I need to have any backup at all on my hard drive? I have a feeling I've been needlessly suffering (from slow speed) for a long time. Thanks.

matthild wrote:
... I just plugged in Time Machine when I got it ...
I'm guessing.. but are you referring to a Time Capsule unit...?
http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/
To use Time Machine with a Time Capsule... See Here...
Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule
matthild wrote:
I think I should have asked, "Do I need to keep a Sparse Disk Image ..."
This image should not be on the Internal Hard Drive of your computer.
Digest this information and post back if you need to.
Cheers.

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My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

My MacBook Pro hard drive is almost full and I wish to store my Aperture Library on an external drive, how do I do this and is the use of USB2 suitable or do I need to use a Firewire external hard drive?

You'll get better performance if you use a Firewire hard drive (especially if you buy a 7200 RPM drive). Firewire's IO speed is significantly faster than USB 2. USB 2 has a theoretical max speed of 480 Mbps except that it has extremely high over-head. The fastest speeds you can typically get are about 300 Mbps. Firewire, on the other hand, has very little overhead. The fastest speeds you can get are very nearly 800 Mbps. You will typically be constrained by the maximum read/write speed of the drive, not the speed of the I/O on the Firewire bus. Now if you had one of those nice shiny new Macs with the Thunderbolt I/O and a Thunderbolt drive (Light Peak) ... I think they alter space and time so that your data arrives before you know you want it.
Also... unless you want to buy a solid state drive (very expensive), try to keep your hard drives from becoming much more than about 60% full if you want great performance. A nearly "full" hard drive is, on average, only about half as fast as the same hard drive when nearly empty.
USB 2 will work perfectly fine... just not as fast.
Also... it's much safer to move the entire Aperture library than to "relocate masters". Your images must be managed. You can Aperture manage them, or you can manage them. But someone has to manage them. If you "relocate" them so that they are no longer stored inside the Aperture library then you'll need to work out a system of how you decide to organize things and it's critically important that you don't start moving files around or deleting things without Aperture's knowledge. If you do, you'll break the links to your masters and start having problems with missing masters. If you have Aperture manage the library then you don't need to worry about any of that stuff.... it's safer.
Do make backups (use the Aperture Vault or use some other backup program, but make sure you back up your work if you care about it.) There are only two kinds of hard drives in the world: (1) those that have failed and (2) those that are going to fail. There are no exceptions to this rule. Hard drives are cheap. Backup software is built into Aperture and into your Mac.

Can I create a full backup on google drive by moving my user folders to Google Drive Folder?

Can I create a full backup on google drive? Google suggested I simply move my folders (Pictures, Music, Downloads, Documents, etc) into the google drive folder. But these seem to be automated files involved with Mac's organization... will this create problems for my computer? Ie. if I import new photos, or download music, will my computer know where to put it if its in google drive?
If this is a problem, how else could I possibly create a full backup of personal data on google drive (or any similar syncing service, for that matter). iCloud is prohibitively expensive, and programs like crash plan and carbonate run so slowly and bog down my computer so much that they are not worth it. Google drive seems simplest and most competitive in price, but I am worried about moving my folders.
Help?

Google Drive also installs a client--a google drive folder on my hard drive that is programmed to sync changes automatically to the cloud--that allows me to drag and drop. I suppose my original concern was about dragging files from my hard drive (such as "pictures" that would contain my iPhoto library, etc) into it. Would that mess up Mac's internal organizational system? If I drag and drop my pictures folder, music folder, etc. into the google drive client folder in Finder, will those applications still function correctly? Will my mac still be able to figure out where to put photos I import from my camera, etc?
I am only as tech savvy as I have to be to survive professionally as a traveling teacher, so I am looking for something pretty straightforward that will free up some of my brain waves for other activities, rather than remembering which folders I have made changes in and need to sync.

Need to move photos to external hard drive but can't find them in library

When we bought our Mac in 2005, we moved all of our photos from our PC onto the Mac, so I had pictures dating back to 2003. All of the photos we've taken since 2005 have been imported through iPhoto and show up in the library when we open iPhoto. However, through the library, I can't see any photos prior to 2005. I know they're on the system somewhere, because our screen saver is a slide show, and photos pre-2005 show up.
My question is twofold:
1) Where do I find those pre-2005 photos?
2) I am out of space on my hard drive and want to move the majority of our photos to the external hard drive, but would like to keep a year's worth of photos on the hard drive. How do I move most of them to the external drive but keep some on my hard drive?
Thanks for any help!

Were these pre 05 pictures imported to iPhoto too?
If so then your database may be damaged:
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new *iPhoto 08* library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
2) I am out of space on my hard drive and want to move the majority of our photos to the external hard drive, but would like to keep a year's worth of photos on the hard drive. How do I move most of them to the external drive but keep some on my hard drive?
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk. Make sure the disk is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Now you have two full libraries.
3. On your internal, delete the pics you don't want from iPhoto there.
Now you have a full Library on the External and a smaller subset on the internal.
4. To choose between Libraries: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
Managing Multiple Libraries - including moving pics/albums/rolls and metadata between them - is greatly facilitated by using iPhoto Library Manager
Regards
TD

I have 21,000 photos stored in iphoto. I have a WD 1.5TB backup external hard drive. What is the best way to erase about half of my photos on my internal hard drive?

I have 21,000 photos stored in iphoto. I have a WD 1.5TB backup external hard drive. What is the best way to erase about half of my photos on my internal hard drive?

Here's one way to do what you want:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

I interrupted a software update and my macbook pro will not boot. I have tried to reboot using the startup disc, I have tried to verify the disc, and repair the disc. It tells me I need to erase and reformat the hard drive then reinstall the operating sys

I interrupted a software update and my macbook pro will not boot. I have tried to reboot using the startup disc, I have tried to verify the disc, and repair the disc. It tells me I need to erase and reformat the hard drive then reinstall the operating system. I do not have a back up of all my applications, my garageband music and other things. I also do not have time capsule set up on this machine, but I do have a 2 TB time capsule.
Is there anyway to back up this corrupted drive so I can restore my applications later?

There's an old saying. If you don't have a backup disc, then there must be nothing important to backup. That's just lesson #1. Lesson #2 is to never interrupt a software update. Not a good thing.
OK, I'm sure you know this. It just upsets me to read your story, knowing you have a lot of important stuff on your hard drive, and didn't use time machine.
You're pretty much in a bad place. My only hope for you is to boot to your Installation Disc, then using disk utility see if you can save the internal hard drive (by fixing what can be fixed). You might be able to see your user folder and some of your apps. I wouldn't even consider copying the library, because who knows what's been corrupted in there.
Good luck.

Why do I need a bootable copy of my hard drive?

A little while ago I got a little too enthusiastic about reclaiming space on the drive and mistakenly deleted my Receipts folder. So far the eMac is fine, but I've been advised I should perform an archive and reinstall of the system, and, just in case, to make a bootable backup of my hard drive first, and to buy an external hard drive that could make such a copy.
My question is why I need a bootable copy of the hard drive. I'm a light user (internet, Quicken, no video games, movies or graphics processing), and after deleting duplicate mp3 files, unused printer drivers, stripping unneeded languages from programs, and cleaning out those un-deleted files left after deleting programs, I'm down to 13G used on my 40G hard drive (and the old beast just whizzes around). I can save that much stuff on my (new) 16G USB drive, which won't be bootable. So, why should I worry about bootability?

You know, I think you're right. I'm marking this solved because you just validated my thought. My to-do list is long enough without hovering over a hard drive for a couple of evenings and hoping and praying I do things right.
The Apple store is open today, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow and toddle over to our local Mac reseller (buy local-ish!) and pick up something that's plug-n-play. And, even though I've only got a 40G drive, and about 20G to back up, I'll probably end up buying something bigger (and partition a small volume for my backup) so that when I finally do buy a new computer I'll already have a backup drive.
Message was edited by: litterbuggy

I just switched to Lion from SL, and am regretting it deeply, is there anyway to switch back to SL but still keep lion on your hard drive until you want it again?

I just switched to Lion from SL, and am regretting it deeply, is there anyway to switch back to SL but still keep lion on your hard drive until you want it again?
I hate to have paid for it and have it go away. Help please!

Start by creating a second partition on your hard drive:
To resize the drive do the following:
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After the main menu appears select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the hard drive's main entry then click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
2. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.
3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)
4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.
You should now have a new volume on the drive.
It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss. Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.
Install Snow Leopard on the new partition:
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Be sure to choose your new partition as the target destination.
Download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 update. Any additional updates can be installed using Software Update.

Time Capsule can't backup external hard drives connected to it. Got that.

Hello Apple Support Communities! This is my first post. Hope this finds you all well My first year as an Apple user. I bought a 2-Tb TC and am running my first backup to my MacBook as I write this.
Problem statement: TC can't backup external hard drives connected directly to it, but the ones connected to the Macs that are connected wirelessly to it. Duly noted. However, the Spotlight will reindex the hard drives connected to the Mac and that will take hours; the whole backup will take days. Thus, excluding the hard drives at "System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab" will probably help reduce the time of backup, or just ejecting them will do too. That itself has not proven effective coz it's still taking forever (50Gb in 2 days, still going).
Questions:
1) Do I wait until my first backup to my MacBook's internal hard drive is done before I connect my hard drives to my MacBook and attempt another backup? If yes, how do I go about the excessive time Spotlight reindexing takes if I intend to backup my hard drives connected to my MacBook?
2) Is there any other way of speeding up the first-time backup?
*Note: All versions of OS and firmwares are up-to-date. TC is connected to an external wireless router. TC is intended to be used as backup device and / or file server only.
P/S: Apologee if this has already been discussed before, thus, a link to previous discussion thread would highly be appreciated)
- Shook Hashem, Malaysia.

How do I backup the externel hard drives connected to my MB. I was under the impression that that has already been done, because I've read it somewhere in a discussion that said it's done automatically unless I exclude it from a backup, which I didn't. So it's supposed to backup the external hard drivestoo because I had them connected to my MB the entire time during the backups.
By default an external drive is excluded.. the list is odd.. if I plug a drive into the mac.. it immediately is listed as excluded.
This is not the list of included.. this is the list of excluded.. remove it from the excluded list to include it.
It is kind of reverse polish notation in backups.
If I want to enter the Time Machine, should I enter it with the TM turned on or off?
Not sure what the question means. If you use the star wars display and want to recover files then use TM off.. but read up pondini.. how to do restore etc.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
15A in particular on the how to use TM.
When do I uplug the ethernet and use the wireless connection instead?
Once you have finished the main backup you can go back to wireless. The incremental backups are mostly very small.

HT201250 My backup external hard drive hasn't work since I insalled Snow Leopard. Bad:( I am still learning about my MAC and would just like to re-format the hard dive and set everything up again. I want to upgrade to Lion but can't untill I backup what

My backup external hard drive hasn't work since I insalled Snow Leopard. Bad:( I am still learning about my MAC and would just like to re-format the hard dive and set everything up again. I want to upgrade to Lion but can't untill I backup what I.

Read through the links here, calm down and take your time.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Backup External Hard Drive with Time Machine

I have several external hard drives and am wondering if I can use Time Machine to backup External Hard Drive #1 on Hard Drive #2? Or is it only possible to backup your Main Machine on an External Hard Drive?
Thanks

These issues with non-apple format drives that you mention, would they concern the dedicated Time Machine external hard drive, the external hard drive one is looking to backup, or both?
What are the issues raised? My current 500GB external hard drive is FAT-32 and I want to use an additional 500GB external hard drive [fresh out the box so I can determine whatever format it is fairly easily] as the dedicated Time Machine backup. Would you suggest reformatting my 500GB FAT-32 drive before initiating the new drive as the dedicated Time Machine backup? It's possible to do so, but would take quite some time. Also, this may move into a different subject, but I enjoy being able to share files with a PC with Windows XP using my external hard drive; would any of the formats you mentioned as being Time Machine-safe allow me to continue to do so?

Please could somebody help me I have an iMac which came with Tiger 10.4.10 installed I have lost my disks and I need to re-install after a hard drive failure. Where can I find this? I will upgrade to Snow Leopard after but I cannot go straight to SL

Please could somebody help me I have an iMac which came with Tiger 10.4.10 installed I have lost my disks and I need to re-install after a hard drive failure. Where can I find this? I will upgrade to Snow Leopard after but I cannot go straight to SL

You can go strait to SL, all you need is a retail SL DVD available from Apple for $20. The US online store has them at:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

I need to move the iTunes library to an External Hard Drive to free up space on iMac. Need suggestions on type of External Hard Drive to use. A Multimedia Hard Drive like LaCie LaCinema Classic HD Multimedia Hard Drive OR a Large Desktop Hard Drive?

I need to move an iTunes library to an External Hard Drive to free up space on iMac. I Need suggestions on type of External Hard Drive to use. Should you use a Multimedia Hard Drive like LaCie LaCinema Classic HD Multimedia Hard Drive OR a standard Large Desktop Hard Drive like Western Digital/Seagate/LaCie?

There is no benefit to the multi-media feature on the first drive you mentioned. If you are going to look at differences between certain drives, I'd look at the differences in reliability first.

How to restore autofill usernames from a backup external hard drive?

Hello,
I deleted the autofill data from the clear all history window by checking off the form & search history box.
Is there away to restore or retrieve the autofill data from a backup external hard drive?
Any Ideas appreciated,

See:
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
* C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
The "Application Data" folder in XP/Win2K and the "AppData" folder in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and later versions are hidden folders.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders
You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:
*Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Open Directory)

Would Time Machine backup external hard drive attached to my Mac?

I have a hard drive which is attached to my iMac 24*7. I plan to move all my movies & pictures over to it. Would the Time Machine backup (through a different hard drive) backup my Hard drive?

Yes, TM will back up any Mac-formatted volume attached to your Mac.
Regards.

Need to keep full Backup on hard drive?

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